i was absolutely impressed by the contestant selection for the cosplay games. i was a contestant in death match, and watched match game, lip sync battle, and chess. they have been incredible and the contestants killed it. there were a few technical issues here and there, but i was still highly impressed. in my opinion, this year's death match was the best i have ever seen in terms of stage combat and cosplay.

however, i do wish that there was some sort of announcement made earlier that all cosplot participants were picked and confirmed. i have known a few who were still waiting on their decision, and i did see a response in this forum that the participants have already been picked long ago. it would be appreciated in the future in case there were other applicants who were getting their hopes up ^^

Chess was AMAZING. I laughed so hard and loved watching all the creative battles! I know how hard you all work, having done it before, and it was absolutely worth it. You all worked together well, and the hosts had a great rapport. Amazing job, everyone, and the coordinators did a fantastic job drawing us in!!

This was my first year being a part of cosplay games and I had an utter blast with it. Staff was incredibly helpful with making sure we had what we needed during cosplay chess, whether it was water, directions to the bathroom, or assistance with getting on stage/letting us know when to go up. I've been in a number of theatre productions in the past and I must say, how you guys organized everything backstage was impressive! Thank you for the bright tape that navigated where to go once off stage (I didn't wear my glasses and can't do contacts when I cosplay mostly, so even I couldn't miss it). Though speaking of things I couldn't see... thank you to whoever finally said my sword and scabbard were backwards when I was trying to sheathe my sword after dying (I was Satsuki during chess). Again... blind without glasses and couldn't tell D: so appreciate whoever said it. Also, THANK YOU ROADEY FOR HOLDING MY SCABBARD WHILE I WENT OFF TO DIE AND I'M SORRY IF I CAME OFF ALOOF/SNAKRY WHEN WE STRUGGLED WITH SAID SWORD I WAS JUST TRYING TO STAY IN CHARACTER I LOVE YOU YOU'RE AWESOME!

Another thing that made me immensely happy... I'm a 30-year-old with years of experience in theatre and it truly warmed my heart to see there be such a plethora of ages and experience level within cosplay chess, thus I can only imagine it's extended to the other cosplay games, too. It didn't come off as elitist AT ALL. And I LOVE that.

While I was not a part of it, I still attended Afterdark Dating Game and I swear, it gets better and better every year. The final round had me in tears. Also the synergy between Greed and Russia was A++ (as was the amount of roasting Greed was getting from the contestants!) and I hope to see them again as hosts next year! My only complaint with Afterdark was that the yuri round felt like it was 3 or 4 questions too long in comparison to the others, but still good all around.

I went to two of the organized photoshoots and had a lot of fun with both. The RWBY one on Saturday was extremely crowded and definitely felt like it needed a bigger space, though (the FB event says 120+ people were going to it and I think the Jupiter section is meant only for 50-75 people?). I also don't know if you guys have anything against megaphones, but man, I wish our poor host had one so a) we could actually hear what she was calling out and b) she didn't lose her voice. Also, I don't know if it was done before in previous years, but I loved having the photoshoots listed in the guidebook!

All around, thank you immensely for putting together all of this for everyone. Can't wait to do it all again next year!

I definitely enjoyed both After Dark Dating Game and Chess, though I was a bit confused/surprised with how early Dating Game was scheduled. But it also felt like most of the panel schedule was strange this year (I elaborated on the convention feedback forum post).

The Cosplay Photo Suite was the BEST. It was so great to be able to have a real photographer take pics of our cosplays even though we couldn't afford a full private shoot this time around. $20 for a full set of edited photos is amazing, as was being able to basically walk in whenever we wanted. Such a great service for all of us who worked so hard on our cosplays!!

The cosplay deathmatch was the highlight of our weekend - absolutely hilarious, the cosplayers were all amazing and the MC team was fantastic.

I enjoyed the masquerade but honestly felt it was a little long. I wish there had been half as many final entries so that the overall level of quality could have been a little higher and the show overall could have been a more reasonable length. Aside from that, I loved the concert, the fashion show, and getting to see the winning AMVs!

This was my third year in Cosplay Games and it continues to be my absolute favorite part of the con!!! I had an AMAZING time in Death Match, Lip Sync Battle, and Chess. All of the coordinators and participants were incredibly kind and I loved being a part of it with everyone again!!!

The fast pass for performers was incredibly helpful-it helped tone down my worries about arriving to an event late because of lines a lot!!

Also, I don't know if this was there in the past, because this was the first year I utilized it, but having a room to change in at Cosplay Games HQ was super helpful!!! My only suggestion would be to have a mirror at HQ that could be used for checking and adjusting wigs and makeup.

All in all it was an incredibly fun time and I'm already excited for next year!!!

Ahhhhh the Masq was so incredible this year!! Staff were absolutely amazing, supportive, and incredibly kind as always. Weegie did a wonderful job stepping into some big shoes and Roadie was very entertaining and sweet as well. Y'all really do make this whole con worth it for me.

This was my first year in the games (I was in the Arda wig contest last year though, and the fashion show) and I had a hell of a lot of fun. I'm a rather shy person by nature and expected to just...panic when I came on stage for death match and chess. Nope. I won my first death match...and then lost my second...and finally getting to kill Ganondorf...was the best. Everyone who was part of putting the games together (David, we need to figure out how to get you more sleep! Kirk, thank you for the honor of being part of your first Chess match!) you guys were all amazing.
David, if you're around for Death Match next year, let's talk about the...zombies and your idea. (remember the jumping up and down girl at Chess practice, instantly volunteering?)
The only complaint I had...there needs to be a little more communications with the events and panels, as to when panels happens. I wanted to go to a few to up my cosplay but I was either in Death match or at chess practice and missed them. Aside from that, hell of a good way to celebrate 10 years of cosplaying at AB.

I posted this in the general feedback forum, but I am going to post it here as well just for visibility sake.

Hi! Jenna/Jennadorables from Idolized! here!

My feedback is going to be very specific to one event I held this weekend, and that is the Love Live Dance-Meet-up held on Saturday by Idolized! (the idol group I am a part of).

I'll preface this long post by stating I am extremely happy with how Anime Boston went this year, and am so thankful to all the amazing staff, especially Ficus who was so open to what I had to say regarding the growing popularity of Idol groups.

As you may know, idol cosplay and dance groups are a growing phenomena all over the US! These groups rehearse for months to learn amazing dances and to perform in gorgeous cosplays. However, at Anime Boston there has not been an appropriate space/venue for all these idol groups to display all their hard work. At Anime Boston 2017, our group (Idolized!) was forced out of several locations in the Hynes due to the attention we were getting for our performances.

This year I wanted to make sure the same thing occurred. I have been hosting meet-ups with my group Idolized! for over 2 years now, so I am no stranger to the work it takes to make them go smoothly. I contacted the staff member in charge of panels about possibly holding a panel for idol groups attending AB to perform at. However, as most of us know Anime Boston is a non-profit and therefore all panels must be educational in some way. As such, I was forwarded to the meet-up coordinator Ficus, and was told to sign-up for a meet-up space as soon as they opened. So I stayed up until midnight of the day they opened, and got a space in the Hynes (specifically outside room 206). Ficus quickly contacted me with worries that the meet-up might be too large and too loud, so we worked together to move the meet-up to a more secluded space in the Hilton, however due to the nature of meet-ups at AB we were only able to get a 1 and 1/2 hour time slot.

Our meet-ups are meant to be a platform for both structured Love Live groups and casual attendees to get to dance and show off their idol spirit. In total, 6 idol groups performed at our meet-up. We also like to allow for open dance, so everyone who is there gets a chance to participate. However, because of the time restriction (and the fact that there were pre-planned 9 performances by groups) there was a disappointing lack of open dance. There were a few, but Idolized and all of the attendees would have preferred to have more time.

In regards to the space. The location of our meet-up was in the Westminster Ballroom which has a capacity of 125 people. Our meet-up was already at nearly at maximum capacity 15 minutes PRIOR to the beginning of our event, and there was a line out the door throughout the entirety of the meet-up. We did not have a real set up to play music, so we had to set up our own speakers. The groups performing also expressed a lack of space available for dancing. Not to mention there was not NEARLY enough space for open dance.

This is where I get to my recommendations. I talked to Ficus in person on Saturday before our meet-up, and the suggestion was thrown around that idol performances could get a room similar to the karaoke room in the future. Stage space, a sound system, and seating would make an INCREDIBLE difference for an event like this. Other conventions like Akon and Holiday Matsuri hold events called Idol Showcases . These are official con events, with a stage and ample seating, where local idol groups are able to perform and shine like they have always dreamed. I was in the masquerade for the first time this year, and I found the experience extremely worthwhile and was a dream of mine. I am confident that I could help organize something similar to the masquerade, but for idol performances (of course on a smaller scale than the masquerade). I would also love to integrate open dance.

I would love to work with Anime Boston staff to throw around the idea of potentially hosting an Idol Showcase next year at Anime Boston. I have a lot of experience both with hosting events and just idol activities in general. I'll send you my resume if you want haha. Idol groups truly just want a place to showcase all of their hard work, and I am dedicated to making sure all of them have the same performing opportunities I have had in my past 7 years of cosplaying!

I'll attach some photos below as well as statements from other cosplayers that performed at the meet-up.

END OF MEET-UP PICTURE

15 MINUTES BEFORE START OF MEET-UP
STATEMENTS FROM PERFORMERS AT THE MEET:

I'd love to be a part of a big idol festival! like a real life school idol festival, hehe~ it be so amazing if we could give everyone a chance to shine, because everyone deserves their own spot on stage. - HeartBeat Idols

Performing was amazing! i wouldn’t want to debut at any other meet. thanks so much for hosting, and for all who attended and performed! you’re all amazing, love you! -finn/rin

I definitely think we need more space, while dancing we had limited movement going forward so the spacing was a bit off I’m assuming for everyone, that being said we also could have used more seating, there wasn’t enough seating for the groups preforming let alone observers. ~Cat

know that Cat already expressed some of our thoughts, but as a group we've always thought the idea of an idol festival/showcase would be super cool! If there was one big event for all of the idols to showcase their hard work it would cut down on groups performing in the hallways, give everyone who is there to support and watch an adequate and comfortable space to do so, and it would allow the many different idol groups their own time to shine! We've seen it work at so many different conventions across the united states and it would be so amazing to see it come to Anime Boston! ~Ali

I agree with what my other members said! I also think the event is honestly such an amazing thing cause it brings all of us love live fans together and allows us to cheer each other on and it creates a more positive bond between groups it makes it feel like less of a competition and more of just a chance to show how hard we work to put these dances together. I definitely think we need more space & a larger span of time so even more groups would get the chance to perform! - Summi